Claude Austin Trevor Schilsky (7 October 1897 – 22 January 1978) was an Irish actor who had a long career in film and television.[3]

Austin Trevor
Born
Claude Austin Trevor Schilsky[1][2]

(1897-10-07)7 October 1897
Belfast, Ireland
Died22 January 1978(1978-01-22) (aged 80)
Years active1930–1969

He played the parson in John Galsworthy's Escape at the world premiere in London's West End in 1926 and was the only member of the cast to transfer to New York City for the Broadway production a year later.[4][5] He played Captain August Lutte in Noël Coward's Bitter Sweet during the long first run of the show in the West End from 1929 to 1931. He was the first actor to play Agatha Christie's detective Hercule Poirot on screen in three British films during the early 1930s: Alibi (1931), Black Coffee (1931) and Lord Edgware Dies (1934). He subsequently turned up in a character part in a later Poirot adaptation The Alphabet Murders in 1965.[6] He stated that he only got the Poirot role because he could speak with a French accent.[7][8]

During the 1960s he worked largely in television, appearing in series such as The First Churchills in which he played Lord Halifax. He appeared in an episode of the legal drama The Main Chance.[3][9]

He died in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.

Filmography

edit

Film

edit

Television

edit

Selected stage credits

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Mark Campbell (2015). Agatha Christie: The Books, the Films and the Television Shows featuring Poirot, Miss Marple and More. Oldcastle Books. ISBN 978-1843444244.
  2. ^ Adrian Room (2010). Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins (fifth ed.). McFarland. p. 481. ISBN 978-0786457632.
  3. ^ a b "Austin Trevor". BFI. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012.
  4. ^ The Magazine - Programme No.605, Grantley & Co.Ltd, 28 Leicester Square, London WC2
  5. ^ League, The Broadway. "Escape – Broadway Play – Original - IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
  6. ^ "The Alphabet Murders (1965) - Frank Tashlin - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  7. ^ Hal Erickson. "Austin Trevor - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  8. ^ "Austin Trevor". TVGuide.com.
  9. ^ "Body and Soul (1969)". BFI. Archived from the original on 2 August 2015.
edit